In the merchandising of products on shelves, such as on supermarket or liquor store shelves, it was known to mount price and unit information on the shelf adjacent to the merchandise. Shelves in grocery and other retail stores typically have a channel attached to the distal edge of the shelf. These channels are generally referred to as “price channels.” Price channels are typically formed of extruded metal sections, such as an extruded aluminum section. Price channels are adapted to accept cards that display price, weight, or other product information and price channels have also been used to mount advertising and promotional materials on grocery or other retail store shelves.
This information is generally contained on a tag that is inserted into the price channel. The tags are periodically changed as merchandise, pricing or other information changes. Tags also must be changed if they become damaged or defaced due to spillage. The tags must be grasped, pulled out of the channel and new tags inserted into the channel.
Inserting a small and highly flexible tag into a channel is often an time-consuming, tedious and delicate task. This task may be made more difficult if the price channel is clogged due to dirt or dust or spillage. To the inventor's knowledge, this onerous task is presently carried out by hand. The operator's fingers may even be injured by sharp edges and the like. If there is a large merchandise turnover, the task of removing old tags and replacing them with new tags can be extremely time consuming.
Therefore, there is a need for a means to quickly and expeditiously place tags in the channels associated with merchandise shelves.